Yankees Avoid Sweep, Will Look To Narrow Lead to 3-2 Tonight Before Heading Back West

October 30, 2024 by Dave Congrove, CollegeFootballPoll.com

In an all-out effort to save themselves from elimination, the New York Yankees rallied from another early hole to fend off a Los Angeles Dodgers sweep last night by taking an 11-4 win in the Bronx. The final game in New York has a scheduled first pitch time of 8:08 p.m. ET tonight with Gerrit Cole on the mound for the Yankees and Jack Flaherty for the Dodgers.

While the Dodgers would, no doubt, love to celebrate a title at home, they are eager to wrap it up and cut the historical gap to 4-8 vs. the Yankees in their World Series history.

More importantly, it would give the Dodgers two straight World Series wins over the Yankees, albeit 43 years apart.

The World Series Game 5 betting numbers on Fan Duel this morning had the Yankees at minus-1.5, +146 to win ATS and minus-142 on the moneyline with an over/under run total of 8-1/2.

Tuesday night's game began as a replay of Monday night's contest  with Freddie Freeman belting another two-run homer in the first inning. The likely MVP if the series goes the way of the Dodgers has hit a homer in every game in this series, and in 6 straight dating back to 2021.

No wonder FanDuel 's Game 5 Daily Specials include a +215 proposition on any player hitting a first-inning home run.

The Yankees countered with a run in the bottom of the second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Alex Verdugo, but the difference maker came in the following inning when Anthony Volpe cleared the bases with his shot into the lower section of the left field stands to give his team a 5-2 lead.

LA battled back to within 5-4 in the fifth, but Austin Wells' solo shot made it 6-4 and the Yankees put five more on the board in the 8th, including a Gleyber Torres 3-run knock. They wrapped up the scoring with Aaron Judge finally breaking through with a single an his first RBI of the series.

Daniel Hudson (0-1) took the loss on the mound for the Dodgers in the seventh game in which he's seen action in the 2024 playoffs. Clay Holmes got the win for the Yankees and is 3-1 this postseason..

The Yankees out hit the Dodgers 9-6.

As for tonight's game, Cole is 1-0 for the playoffs with the only credited win coming on October 10 against the Kansas City Royals. He has a 2.82 ERA and has struck out 16 in 22.1 innings pitched. Cole has a career postseason record of 11-6 and is 153-80 in the regular season.

Flaherty and Cole each started game 1 and neither got a decision.

Flaherty pitched 5.1 innings, allowed 2 runs and struck out 6 in the 6-3 win that was propelled by Freeman's walk-off grand slam. The home run heard 'round the world is the first-ever in the entire history of Major League Baseball's fall classic.

Cole had the lead when he left after pitching 6 innings, allowing just 1 run with 4 k's and 4 hits. Between the two, Flaherty is the only one who issued a single walk.